Why study this course?
This course is one of five pathways available in the MLitt in English Literature. Each pathway develops well-rounded expertise in the literature of the period through a mix of core and option choice modules.
Highlights
- Study the interdisciplinary dimensions of modern and contemporary culture through topics which explore cultural production across the arts, music, film and literature.
- Learn about the key developments in modern and contemporary literary studies in dialogue with leading scholars.
- Typical seminar topics might include women’s writing and gender studies, crime fiction, contemporary critical theory, modern and contemporary poetry, postcolonialism, Scottish literature, war writing, literature of the 1940s, and British cinema and music.
- Choose from optional modules in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) in the International Education and Lifelong Learning Institute, to acquire English teaching skills and improve your employability.
Contact details for Programme Director, Dr James Purdon, are available on his profile. You can also find out about his teaching and research interests.
The other pathways available are:
- Medieval Literature
- Shakespeare and Renaissance Literary Culture
- Romantic and Victorian Studies
- Flexible Pathway
Students on any pathway may, subject to permission, take up to 30 credits from any 5000-level module from another School. Some 30-credit 3000- or 4000-level modules within English may also be open to MLitt students, for example EN3114 Reading Old English.
Course information may change. Module information and course content, teaching and assessment may change each year and after you have accepted your offer to study at the University of St Andrews. We display the most up-to-date information possible, but this could be from a previous academic year. For the latest module information, see the module catalogue.
Semester 1
In Semester 1 you will take the module Reading the Modern. This pathway core module explores attempts by writers to find new literary subjects and forms in the opening decades of the twentieth century. The module explores the pursuit by a number of influential modernists from Britain, America, continental Europe and the Global South to develop modes of representation compatible with a newly urban, industrialised, mass-oriented age.
You will also choose one 30 credit option module.
- Critical Approaches, Theories, and Research Skills: introduces students to the debates, concepts, theories, and methodologies that have shaped the study of literature across a long history, and offers students the opportunity to develop research skills essential to postgraduate study in English literature.
- Reading the Medieval Text: provides specific skills and areas of knowledge necessary for undertaking research in medieval literature, including palaeography and codicology, and scholarly editing.
- The Forms of Renaissance Literature: explores key works of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century literature in relation to the cultural forms that shaped early modern writing.
- Romantic and Victorian Lives and Texts: examines the phases of literary and cultural production and reception, from the lives of authors and cultural figures, through the conditions of publication of their work.
Semester 2
In Semester 2, Contemporary Literature and Culture is the pathway core module. Considering both national and international perspectives, this module provides the opportunity to reflect on the proliferation of diverse literatures and other forms of cultural production in the contemporary world. The course is designed to expose students to a range of contemporary authors, poets and playwrights, moving between a detailed focus on highlighted key works and a wider a perspective on individual writers' oeuvres.
You will also choose one 30 credit option module.
- Medieval Literature in Context: teaches some central Old English, Middle English, and Older Scots texts in their wider cultural and temporal contexts.
- The Worlds of Renaissance Literature: investigates the relationship between Renaissance English literature and the wider world, both in terms of the influence of continental vernaculars on English writing and the transformations produced by global travel and nascent imperial expansion.
- Romantic and Victorian Literary Cultures: shows how thoroughly literature is connected to broader discursive and historical contexts globally. Literary works could make decisive and poignant contributions to particular political debates, and the literary sphere itself has its own politics.
- Women, Writing and Gender: examines continuity and change in women’s writing and constructions of gender across the period 1700 to the present.
- Postcolonial and World Literatures: focuses on a diverse range of texts drawn from across the globe and spanning the long-history of imperialism, from colonial encounters to contemporary global challenges in an era of world literature.
What other students say
"Pursuing a Masters at the University of St Andrews has been an amazing life experience. The School of English is actively interested and engaged in you and your work, and the camaraderie between postgraduates means that I have made friends for life here. The town itself is gorgeous and, with Scotland on your doorstep, there's always somewhere beautiful waiting to be explored. With fantastic library facilities and excellent staff who have a wide range of academic interests, St Andrews is an excellent choice for a postgraduate degree."
- Sadbh (County Meath, Ireland) – 2020
"Everyone is so willing to be supportive and collaborative. The staff who teach you, and also the other students you interact with, are so passionate about the subject that you gain wonderful insights you previously may not have thought of. The Postgraduate Society puts on events all year meaning that you meet people from all different disciplines and areas of study."
- Mia (Devon, England) – 2020
Dissertation
The MLitt concludes with the writing of a 15,000-word dissertation.
Students identify a topic for their dissertation out of their own research interests in consultation with a member of staff.
The dissertation is researched and written following the completion of the core modules of the MLitt and is typically submitted in August.
Further study
Many graduates continue their education by enrolling in PhD programmes at St Andrews.
In addition to the MLitt, the School offers a two-year Master of Philosophy (MPhil) degree option in Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture.
Teaching staff
The staff teaching on the programme will vary in any one year, but will always include some of the following: